TWARS (This Week at Reef Seekers) - February 12-19

[Ken Kurtis]

Whales, Zoom Seekers (delayed), and more (please scroll down for details)​

Congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs . . . WE TOUCHED WHALES!!! - We are back from our trip to San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja to observe and interact with grey whales. I'm happy to report that, despite some strong winds the entire time we were there - we lost our first afternoon because of them - we were able to get in plenty of whale-watching forays (7 total) and everyone in the group got to have a physical encounter with a grey whale. pretty impressive, especially when you realize that everything is entirely up to the whale to initiate the contact with the panga. I'm sure I'm projecting but they actually seem to enjoy the interaction, as much as we can determine if they're enjoying something or not. I'm still working on the trip report and finalizing the pictures but wanted to share this one with you. I didn't take it (and I'm not sure who in our group did) but you can clearly see the whale is quite willing to interact. Truly amazing.​

ZOOM SEEKERS THIS WEDNESDAY - We know you "love" Zoom Seekers but as this Tuesday (our normal day) is Valentine's Day, we thought we'd push it back one day so we'll convene on Wednesday, February 15, @ 7:30PM. Our speaker will be Dale Sheckler, former editor of the California Diving News and someone who dives all over SoCal a lot. So Dale's learned some of the best places to go. Some of these are likely known spots that you may have dove before but some might be "secret" or at least unknown to you. Dale will happily reveal all and then will take your questions to boot. Just remember that we're doing this a day later than usual, on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. Hope to see you there. Here's the link to join the Zoom session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88147553386?pwd=K2h2SVFRdHlwR3hKeDRkeWlzZCsvUT09 ​ ANOTHER REMINDER - Probably mostly affects the guys that read this but don't forget that Tuesday is V-Day. CLEANUP IS TWO WEEKS AWAY - Saturday, February 25 is the magic day and Avalon is the magic place. There's still time to sing up and join the Reef Seekers band of divers at the Green Pier. The website is AVALON HARBOR CLEANUP. $55 to register. THAR BE SQUID!!! - We've seen some encouraging reports from Vets Park about sightings of not only squid eggs but also live squid (at night). So hopefully this just means a somewhat delayed squid run this year and the next few weeks will produce some decent dive conditions and squid-observation opportunities. And that'll do it for now. Keeping it short because I'm still getting caught up from being in Baja. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!! - Ken​